Micron shares could jump 50% on AI demand: analyst

Micron Technology shares could rise 50%, according to BNP Paribas Exane analyst Karl Ackerman, who raised his price target to US$270, the highest on Wall Street.

Ackerman, who previously had the lowest target, upgraded the stock to outperform from underperform, citing strong demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) driven by AI.

Micron stock has surged about 116% in 2025, making it the best performer in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Ackerman said HBM is a sustainable growth area and noted that DRAM and NAND prices could rise with AI investment.

Micron’s recent revenue forecast also topped expectations amid growing AI spending.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

BNP Paribas Exane (a brokerage and research firm) touts an AI “memory supercycle” 1. Micron targets 20-23% HBM share by calendar 2025, while SK hynix guides 46-49% with Samsung at 42-45% 1.
SK hynix leads with MR-MUF (mass reflow with molded underfill, a packaging approach that improves heat dissipation and manufacturing yield, the share meeting standards) 2. Micron plus Samsung use TC-NCF (thermo-compression with no-flow underfill), keeping SK hynix ahead in HBM as Samsung had front-end process issues 2.
Investors still lack Micron’s qualification status with AI accelerator and GPU vendors plus cloud providers 1. Clear 12-high HBM3E volume ramp timelines (12 stacked memory dies in the HBM3E generation, and when output scales to high volumes) will decide if the 50% stock jump holds into 2026 to 2027 1.

Applied Materials holds a 100% monopoly on Chemical Mechanical Planarization equipment for hybrid bonding (a die-to-die interconnect method that bonds metal pads without solder) 3. HBM5 (a forthcoming HBM standard) should adopt it in 2028 to 2029 2.
Hanmi Semiconductor, Hanwha Semitek plus Besi (all providers of semiconductor assembly tools) race to build hybrid bonders (equipment for hybrid bonding for 3D stacks) 4. Hybrid bonding could near $2 billion by 2028, with about 50% of HBM output using it 4.
Through-Silicon Via (TSV) needs rise with HBM scaling, and Lam Research supplies etch systems plus deposition tools 5. Materials vendors provide photoresists (light sensitive coatings), molding compounds (encapsulation), and thermal interface materials (heat-conductive layers) with output near eightfold by 2027 6 5.